Tag: Comic

We Don’t Need Another Hero – Rick V.

I am enjoying this game despite how frustrating it can be. The thing that keeps me coming back is all the weird enemies. In the first couple of stages alone you have a Baxter the Fly, a Batman and a flying spinning skull man. They get kookier as the game progresses. And what are the most threatening enemies? Boring-ass flying orbs. How lame. –Rick V.

Rick V. is a punk cartoonist who also steers the ship of SS. Yokoi Kids. He thinks the two pillars of music are Devo and Crass. You can catch him at Razorcake.org or various places at itsmerickv.com

Snow Brothers Jr Comic Translation by Eric Lappe & Rick V.

Inside the Japanese version of the Snow Brothers Jr. manual, there is an adorable comic strip. Purely for fun and practice, Eric translated it and I wrote in the proper text. Note that I had to adjust some of the text to make it fit in the word balloons. And we have no idea who Hot-Hot II is. I kind of just made up the name from the translation of Hot Hot 2nd Generation. Enjoy!

Read it from top-right to bottom-left.

Rick V helps maintain the Yokoi Kids, draws cartoons and does punk things. Check him out. itsmerickv.com

Eric Lappe is learning Japanese and is patiently waiting for someone to play Ghosts n’ Goblins with. Check him out on Youtube Land. youtube.com/@goemon047

Ian Teaches You the Basics of Skate Or Die: Tour De Thrash by Rick V. Ian Ferguson and Nolen Tabner

I drew this after reading a text converstion between Nolen and Ian. And the kids love Ian. I made Ian look a little too cool.
It’s a good game if you learn to play it. PLAY IT –Rick V.

Dexter’s Imagination – Rick V.


If you read the Dexterity manual it says something about how the entire game is made up from Dexter Doolittle’s imagination. Why would this kid put himself and these cute little creatures through so many punishing puzzles? Dexter has issues.

Rick V. helps keep Yokoi Kids afloat and does punk thing. itsmerickv.com

We Shoulda Stayed in the Sewers – Rick V.

Origin of The Last Ronin?

(The comic is a sequel to the comic I did for Fall of the Foot Clan four years ago.)

I refused to play Back From the Sewers because I hated how the turtle sprites looked. I especially hated how they stared at you on the player select screen. And the weird tippy toe way they walk threw me off too. But when I decided to finally look past the artwork (funfact: I refused to read The Watchmen for years because I hated the artwork. I was a fool), I figured how bad could it be?

Well, it’s not terrible. The animation is nice and the music is not annoying. I like how the Foot Clan soldiers look like scarecrows. Hell! The second level you are riding on a skateboard! I owed the game an apology for treating it like ugly little sibling of the first Game Boy game.

The game decided to get back at me by ramping up the difficulty toward the end of the second level. The bosses in this game are so hard. They move way too fast for your slow moving little turtle. I eventually figured out the patterns and with the helpful rewind button (Thanks, Cowabunga Collection) , I was able to get a little further.

The underground level with the big-ass spikes coming out of the ground is infuriating and from this point on, the game is no longer fun. Just a horrible chore. There are some obstacles where a one of the big-ass spikes comes up while a Foot soldier if shooting a missiles at you. There is a only a very slim chance you aren’t going to take damage on this part. The Cowabunga Collection features a little guide on how to get past these parts but it’s tricky to get it right.

And speaking of the Cowabunga Collection guide, there is a video you can watch to properly beat the giant Robo Cop to rescue one of your “captured” turtles. I tried it and failed multiple times. It’s pretty dang hard and I would just let that mechanical man kill me so I could just get to the next level.

Mousers and little flying robots re-spawn like crazy and are hard to avoid. On some stages Foot Soldiers race right at you causing unavoidable damage. And the lasers in the Technodrome make you want to throw your Switch/Game Boy/Eddie’s Emulator across the room. The wildest bit about this game is that The Shredder is extremely easy to beat and avoid, and the last boss, Krang can be beat without getting a scratch. Maybe that was on purpose?

Anywho, I’m glad I played it but never plan on playing it every again…this week.
–Rick V.

Rick V. doodles comics and does punk things. itsmerickv.com

Simply Ambitious – Shayne Warden

Wow! Killer Instinct on the Game Boy! What an ambitious port! The graphical hurdles alone would have had me thinking the powers that be were looney tunes, but having to also drop four buttons compared to the SNES game…geez!
Admittedly, I’m not a fan of this game as a game. Playing it as the August game of the month for Yokoi Kids was my first exposure to this version of Killer Instinct, and I found it a frustrating experience to try and combo; the real meat-and-potatoes of KI (could be more a ‘me problem’ and less the game, but I promise I’m good at the SNES game…promise!).
That said…
I really have to applaud this game for its graphical chops and its faithful recreation of the characters (also, those character portraits are awesome!) and to a lesser degree, its backgrounds. Beyond that, the music is equal parts fantastic and impressive; more than once, I’d get thoroughly trounced, sit at the start screen and let the audio loop. In the end, Ken Lobb and company did an impressive job bringing a game that I never thought could make a competent transition to the Game Boy a reality!–Shayne Warden

Summer’s winding down, but ‘bbq + beach = awesome’ is still very much early days here on the island! @JazzyJazzerton

The Third Mercenary – Shayne

When I popped in Fortified Zone, I didn’t expect that I’d be done thirty minutes later. My first thought was, “Blink, and you’d miss it”, but despite the short length, I had a fun time; it can be refreshing to play a game that doesn’t beat you down with difficulty.

I wasn’t sold on the soundtrack until the caves: a sweet track that has more depth and a longer loop than the other stages. Weapons/ammo and medkits were plentiful, and attacks were pretty easy to dodge. The game did a great job of making me feel like a bad-ass, to be honest.

In the end, as I said, I had fun and the game didn’t overstay its welcome. I will absolutely go back to this from time to time as – for me – a compact adventure and quick win can be a nice palette cleanser from the crushing difficulty that some games have on offer. –Shayne

It’s been nice out lately, so I’ve put on shorts a few times. Then, I’d get cold, so I’d put on a heavy sweater. My wife has asked me why I “don’t just switch the shorts for pants”? Good question. @JazzyJazzerton

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